Shane Paul Overton is notable as only the second person in Britain to be made the subject of a Criminal Anti Social Behaviour Order (CRASBO) because of his English Defence League (EDL) activities. He admitted a racially aggravated public order offence (under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986) committed on his way home from an (EDL) demonstration on 29 November 2010.
The terms of the order mean he cannot travel on any public railway or enter any railway station, contact the victims in the case or knowingly participate in, organise or control any demonstration, meeting gathering or website concerning the EDL. Overton was also banned from entering or loitering outside any mosque, Islamic prayer room, meeting room, school, cultural centre or festival site.
Overton, aged 38, was returning from an EDL rally in Newcastle and waiting at Doncaster station for a connecting train to his home in Lincoln when he saw an Asian mother and father with their two children on the platform. Prosecutor Richard Sheldon said he objected to them speaking in Urdu and used racist abuse and told them to ‘get out of our country’. The children clung to their parents in fear. His 33 previous convictions included other racially aggravated offending linked to his association with the EDL.
DC Andy Haworth from the National Domestic Extremism Unit, a national police unit which worked alongside British Transport Police and Lincolnshire Police to bring the prosecution, said, "It is only the second time a Crasbo of this nature has been granted to individuals participating in Defence League demonstrations, and it is widely anticipated other police forces will follow suit and apply for Crasbos to stop violent individuals from subverting otherwise legitimate, lawful, protests. While the Defence Leagues are entitled to protest, violence has been a persistent feature of their demonstrations, and on this occasion the offence was committed while travelling from a demonstration. We are working to support all police forces with Crasbo applications against any individual who persistently commits criminal acts at (or travelling to and from) Defence League demonstrations, regardless of whether they profess to support the Defence League or oppose it, in order to ensure future demonstrations are peaceful and lawful."
Passing sentence at Doncaster Crown Court, Judge Jacqueline Davies told Overton that he had shown "a patent contempt" for those of a different racial background to his own throughout his adult life. In addition to the CRASBO, he was fined £200 for the offence and ordered to pay the family £250 compensation.